What not to miss at Frieze London and Frieze Masters

For the last 13 years, Frieze London has been the biggest contemporary carnival in London’s art calendar. It’s the place to see and be seen, taking in all that the international art word has to offer under one roof. Then four years ago it was joined by its sister fair, Frieze Masters that bridged the gap between ancient and mid-century, making the Frieze Fair phenomenon a force to be reckoned with. So with thousands of artworks to see, where do you start? Here are just a few of the exhibits that you don’t want to miss.

Last year, the stand-out booth of Frieze Masters came from Helly Nahmad who worked with a set designer to create a spectacular installation of a fictional collector’s home. Ol’ Beyoncé Instagramed her heart away at this exhibit and the gallery has promised something truly outstanding again this year, but what else can you expect? Lisson Gallery (E7) has dedicated their entire stand to the Cuban-born, New York-based artist Carmen Herrera in celebration of her 100th birthday. Richard Green (E2) will be bringing the Cornish coastline to the capital on his stand showing Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson together. And LA-based David Kordansky (C6) is going all colourful with a solo display of twentieth century American artist Sam Gilliam.

Each year Frieze London wows audiences with bright, diverse, glitzy, unexpected and Instagrammable presentations of contemporary art. With 164 galleries under one roof, where do you start? Whether you like to strategically follow the grid layout or are more inclined towards an unorthodox approach, make sure you catch Los Angeles-based Night Gallery (G27), a new addition to the fair, with their solo display of Mira Dancy. If unconventional is your thing then seek out Jeremy Herbert’s underground chamber as part of Frieze Projects – there be stairs to we don’t know where! And why not get involved at some of this year’s live events that include a processional piece by Tunga at Galeria Franco Noero and Luhring Augustine (L6). At Arcadia Missa (L3) security guards will be asking for your mobile phones before you can encounter Amalia Ulman’s performance and Ken Kagami will be creating free portraits at Misako & Rosen (G19).

After you’ve had enough of traipsing up and down the aisles of the fairs, you can take the free Frieze Sculpture Park set within Regents Park’s English Garden. It’s the perfect outdoor autumnal respite, and Claire Lilley of Yorkshire Sculpture Park has once again selected an impressive line-up of new and historical works. There’ll be a major installation by Richard Serra who does monumental like no-one else and Anri Sala presents his ‘Holey Wall’ around which live performances have been programmed.

The cliché around Frieze Art Fair is glitz: trophy art collectors with budgets the size of a luxury yacht swoop down on the capital to attend opening parties sponsored by Gucci. It’s a voyeur’s glimpse into a gilded dream life where one might buy a photograph by Jeff Wall, which is on show with a price tag of £1m, or there’s a Wolfgang Tillmans for just over £50,000. A sculpture titled recklessdisasters(1) by Phyllida Barlow is £25,000 from Hauser & Wirth.

For five days the international art world is squashed into a giant tent in Regent’s Park. Like in the television series The Great British Bake-Off, the showstopper is an important part of Frieze. More subtle artworks can disappear in the mass of aisles and booths, which welcomes an audience of 60,000, from the most influential collectors and curators to curious tourists and art enthusiasts. For gallerists, curators and artists, the pressure is on to shine.

Lisson Gallery has imported a sculpture titled Iron Root by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. It’s a tree root from southern China cast in iron and then painted with custom colours used for the Chinese market by car manufacturers –this sculpture is purple. The price is a secret but Ai set a record earlier this year with a series of gold- plated animal heads that went for £2.8m.

“There’s a lot of noise around Frieze so we try to do something that excites us, that excites the artists and hope that this then translates to the audience,” says Iwan Wirth, of London gallery Hauser & Wirth. “We try to do it in a way that we enjoy and that artists enjoy and it’s not just bringing stuff to a fair, or work by some hot young artist. You’ve got to be smart and make your booth work for a fair where the attention span is so small. We try to make a difference, raise the bar a bit.”

Hauser & Wirth has organised an exhibition based on the theme of a field for their booth at Frieze London this year. With sculpture by Isa Genzken (around £22,000) and Jason Rhoades (around £100,000) among others, the idea is that the booth becomes a field of carefully selected sculptures, all on pedestals, in which visitors can get lost for a while – rather like the experience of Frieze itself.

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“We try to approach it with humour,” says Wirth, “because when you think about it, it’s funny that the fair happens to be in field in the middle of town and we all come to camp out in it. Quite often it’s the worst weather, and the service is lousy.”

This year as part of Frieze Projects there’s a chamber beneath the main tent, which contains a room designed by artist Jeremy Herbert, who as a set designer built stages for Madonna. It’s art as experience rather than object, and Herbert is the pioneer of a silent wind machine. Visitors will be buffeted by soundless gusts, like being hit by the Invisible Man.

Frieze Masters, now in its third year, is usually a cut above, a place where serious money changes hands, and museums scout out important artworks. This year there’s an emphasis on collecting and not just conventional artworks. Sir Norman Rosenthal has curated a section titled Collections in which fascinating oddities such as collection of 19th-century Pacific fish hooks made of shell and turtle shell are on show.

Phyllida Barlow, Untitled: recklessdisasters (1) 2011

There will be an elegant display where Moretti Fine Art and Hauser & Wirth have joined booths to show work by recent greats along with old masters. There’s sculpture by French artist Louise Bourgeois and paintings by Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch whose radical artworks echo the human body with orifices and blood-red drips – his prices at auction have varied from £8,000 to £50,000, which is cheap for such a seminal artist. There’s an opportunity to buy an 18th-century painting by Bernardo Bellotto, which belonged to the Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard before it was sold for just over £2.5m in auction earlier this year. Top-end sales in both old master and contemporary art grab attention but they are more rare than it might seem.

“It’s a few very hot artists who are expensive,” says Wirth, “and that has always been the case. The primary market is not expensive, and original unique works by younger artists start under £1,000. My advice is unless you can afford it be a contrarian and look in the other direction where you’ll find plenty of great artists that are reasonable.”

For smaller galleries, Frieze is their most important date of the year. Hannah Robinson, director of Mary Mary, points out that there’s no real art market in Glasgow, where her gallery is based. Frieze is a chance to introduce new artists to an international market as well as meet collectors and curators. “It’s not only about sales,” she says, “but touching base with clients or meeting new clients.” For those who can’t make the trek to Glasgow, it’s a chance to see work by less well-known talents such as painters Jonathan Gardner and Helen Johnson, as well as elegant drawings by LA-based Milano Chow. Robinson also shows Jesse Wine, a British artist who works with ceramics. His smaller sculptures of vessel-shaped objects that spew tomato vines are priced at £7,000.

For Wine, Frieze is a chance to get his work seen by a huge audience. His sculpture Let Me Entertain You is a tall thin ceramic tower of shapes based on dried citrus fruit – “with the occasional apple”, as the artist points out. It’ll be on show in the Frieze Sculpture Park, curated by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Clare Lilley, and his smaller ceramics will also be in Limoncello gallery. Wine says: “The tough side is that it is about sales. If it goes well you’re really happy because you’re getting paid and you need to get paid in order to continue your projects. If it doesn’t go well then it’s weird, it’s quite confusing, and then you begin to wonder why the hell you’re there.”

“Artists can be ambivalent about art fairs,” says London gallerist Maureen Paley, “but if you trust your gallery you know they will make every effort to give the work more space to breath. That’s the challenge.”

This year Paley will show artists Rebecca Warren, Liam Gillick, Anne Hardy, Gillian Wearing and Wolfgang Tillmans in her booth. In a new photograph, titled Me As Ghost, Wearing has projected her portrait on to a puff of smoke.

For most commercial galleries, the best outcome is for work at Frieze to be bought by a museum or foundation .“It’s always exciting,” says Paley, “because it means that work will be taken into the public domain, which makes it available to a broader group of people. However, all collectors and their varied interests make a strong contribution.”

More modest collections might begin with a limited-edition print from Allied Editions – a print of an elegant architectural drawing by Pablo Bronstein is available for £350, or another, by painter Matt Connors, is £1,000.

The signs for Frieze 2015 point to a strong year for sales. Wirth says: “There is some concern as to the effect from China and the slowdown of the emerging economies but the contemporary market is very healthy, very robust and people are very optimistic.’

However, for most people Frieze is simply an opportunity to look at art and have a good time: “You get to see a lot of stuff very quickly,” says artist Ryan Gander, “and get a really good overview of what people are up to, not in terms of their wider practice and big projects but of what they’re interested in and what’s happening in their studio. Most artists are critical of art fairs because it seems overly commercial but it’s a good chance to meet your friends from all around the world. It’s like a school reunion.”

Jesse Wine’s ceramic sculpture follows no logic: red gilets and shorts suspended in the air above ceramic footwear; odd-shaped bulbous forms with surfaces like moss or rust; a tower of giant citrus fruit. Witty and joyful, they embody craft as much as concept. (At Limoncello)

Carmen Herrera

She celebrated her 100th birthday this year, and Cuban abstract painter Carmen Herrera remains on top form. The Lisson Gallery booth in Frieze Masters is dedicated to her colourful geometric forms. (At Lisson)

Melvin Edwards

A pioneer among artists who engaged with race and the civil-rights movement, Melvin Edwards works with welded steel, chains and barbed wire. Abstract sculpture like cool clean minimalism from the Sixties. (At Stephen Friedman)

On Wednesday evening, East End Night means galleries stay open until 8pm. On Thursday, West End Night, repeats the same idea in the West End.

Royal Academy

On Thursday, the Royal Academy hosts the private view for Ai Weiwei’s exhibition.

Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens, London W1

Delfina Foundation

Delfina Foundation’s opening party happens the Friday before Frieze.

Delfina Foundation, Catherine Place, London, SW1

Maureen Paley gallery

An opening party on Monday of Frieze week celebrates a new body of work by Liam Gillick, the star of Joanna Hogg’s film ‘Exhibition’.

Maureen Paley, Herald Street, London E2

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ARTLYST

Art News

Frieze Week, collateral Art Fairs, Guide

Frieze Art Week & Alternative Collateral Events Guide 2015

09-10-2015

Artlyst is excited to announce the release of their essential, online, Frieze and Frieze Week collateral Art Fair Guide, for London 2015. This includes important information about the main fair and the collateral events launching the week of 12 October, with the main fair opening to the public on the 14th running till the 17th October.

Each year we curate indispensable information about the best exhibitions and events on offer during Frieze week. This year we are fortunate to be media partners with three must see events: ‘The Future Can Wait’ an exhibition established in 2007 by curators Zavier Ellis and Simon Rumley, launching the Art Bermondsey Project Space ‘Silent Movies’ in the Cavendish Square Car Park curated by the Artists Vanya Balogh and Cedric Christie and Art Below who provide posters in various underground stations. our capital is over-run with the international art set, who flock to this once a year cultural phenomenon. Frieze and Frieze Masters promises to showcase an up to date overview of the current art market allowing art lovers to pay homage to the best (and some of the worst) in visual art. Like Art Basel and Art Basel Miami these fairs make no bones about being massive art trade shows. The galleries involved are there to sell and this year the main Frieze fair showcases 160 of the worlds leading contemporary art galleries. What ever you do don’t miss the smaller art fairs and events that are springing up like dandelions all around the capital next week.

We will be updating this page all week, so pop back again for more listings!

Frieze Masters is described as an art fair that offers a contemporary lens on historical art. The fair features leading galleries showcasing art made before the year 2000, ranging from the ancient era and Old Masters to the late 20th century.

Frieze has announced their 2015 Projects, where they will be presenting seven new commissions for the London fair. Along with the support of the LUMA Foundation, this year’s programme is inspired by Frieze London’s temporary structure in The Regent’s Park and explores propositions for mobile architectures and alternative realities. Nicola Lees, Curator of Frieze Projects, has invited practitioners and collectives from disciplines including architecture, publishing and theatre design to transform, subvert, and interact with the social, structural and cultural dynamics of the fair. Initiated in 2003, Frieze Projects is an unique non-profit commissioning platform for emerging, under-represented and innovative practices within one of the world’s leading contemporary art fairs. The Frieze Projects participants at Frieze London 2015 are: ÅYRBRB, Lutz Bacher, castillo/corrales, Thea Djordjadze, Jeremy Herbert, Asad Raza and Rachel Rose, winner of the 2015 Frieze Artist Award.

Focus continues to evolve into the definitive destination for young galleries, with seven exhibiting at Frieze London for the first time, from Antenna Space (Shanghai) to Hopkinson Mossman (Auckland). Curated by Raphael Gygax (Migros Museum, Zurich) and Jacob Proctor (Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, University of Chicago), Focus provides an unparalleled insight into the world’s emerging talents and will include solo presentations by Harold Ancart (Clearing, New York); Stano Filko (Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna); Maria Pininska-Beres (Dawid Radziszewski); Samara Scott (The Sunday Painter, London) and Amie Siegel (Simon Preston Gallery, New York).

Frieze Live (13th Oct PV) 14-18 Oct Public opening

‘Live’ is dedicated to ambitious performance-based installations and will include works specially conceived for Frieze as well as the re-staging of a number of important historical pieces. Live Artists include: Arcadia Missa, London Amalia Ulman, Luhring Augustine, New York / Franco Noero, Turin Tunga , Meyer Riegger, Berlin Eva Koťátková

Frieze Week Satellite Art Fair and Events Guide 2015

Established in 2007 by curators Zavier Ellis and Simon Rumley, THE FUTURE CAN WAIT returns for its 9th year as a collaboration with State Media to launch Olympus’ Art Bermondsey Project Space at 183-185 Bermondsey Street SE1 3UW. Located adjacent to White Cube Bermondsey, the exhibition will take place over three floors of the former Victorian paperworks.

Patron, Geoff Leong once again joins forces with dynamic artist-curator duo Vanya Balogh and Cedric Christie plus a new team of international guest curators to support one of the highlights of London’s Frieze week. This non profit exhibition featuring over 100 artists in the circular 20000 Sq ft multi storey car park beneath Cavendish Square.

Sixteen of the most dynamic female artists in London together for TAKE! EAT!, an exhibition put together by Artist/Curators Diana Chire & MC Llamas. Situated on the door step of Frieze Art Fair, St Marylebone Parish Church will act as the backdrop for TAKE! EAT! which is anticipated to be one of the most notable guerrilla exhibitions of the year.

SUNDAY is anything but a Sunday art fair! It is a gallery led art fair created as a platform for an intimate group of like minded emerging commercial galleries to present work by a diverse range of artists within a relaxed environment. The fair will return to London for its sixth edition showing a selection of 20 young international galleries. SUNDAY is recognised as an integral part of the London, UK and international cultural landscape. Housed in Ambika P3, a 14,000 square foot, triple height subterranean space, SUNDAY is free and open to all and last year welcomed over 6000 visitors.

The Other Art Fair takes place at The Old Truman Brewery on 15-18 October 2015. This artist led fair is situated in the heart of London’s cultural East End, The Old Truman Brewery is a landmark arts venue and hosts a hive of creative businesses, galleries and events and provides the perfect new home for the fair during what is London’s most important and internationally renowned art week.

The Moniker Art Fair returns to Shoreditch from 16-18 October 2015. Moniker 2015 features designated artist project spaces combined with a commercial element. Each space is individually curated presenting a twist to the traditional art fair format. As the contemporary and urban art worlds increasingly overlap Moniker has continued to evolve, resulting in the most diverse array of artists to be showcased at Moniker to date.

Set in the vibrant heart of Mayfair right in the middle of Berkeley Square, PAD is London’s leading fair for 20th Century art, design and decorative arts. From 14-18 October 2015, PAD inspires a unique spirit of collecting, PAD epitomises how modern art, photography, design, decorative and tribal arts interact to reveal astonishing combinations and create the most individual and staggering interiors. Prominent international galleries from major cities across Europe, North America and Asia come together to offer an exceptional panorama of the most coveted and iconic works available on the market today.

Dedicated to the 54 countries that make up the African continent, the fair represents the multiplicity and diversity of contemporary African Art. Now in its third year, the fair takes place from 15-18 October 2015 at Somerset House having returned from a successful New York debut earlier this year.

This autumn the biennial Sluice_fair returns to London with 35 artist/curator-run emerging galleries from around the world. Since its inception in 2011, Sluice’s emphasis has been on open and collaborative practice, with a strong program of education, performance and publishing.

This October Art Below are showcasing the work of 20 international artists across billboard spaces at Regent’s Park underground station. This is the fifth year running which coincides with Frieze Art Fair situated right beside Regent’s Park tube. The artists’ work will also be on show at London’s Gallery Different, located in the heart of Fitzrovia, just off Tottenham Court Road.

A major exhibition of works by the late John Hoyland, one of Britain’s leading abstract painters, is the first show at Damien Hirst’s newly-built London gallery Newport Street Gallery. Well worth a trip to see this impressive new space.

Charles Richardson’s animated videos of male identity and the absurdities of human existence alongside Canadian born artist Jon Rafman’s playful series of installations that immerse visitors within his video and sculptural works.

Throughout Frieze week, the ICA partners with Frieze Art Fair and K11 Art Foundation to host London’s first official Frieze ICA Bar. Taking place over a five-day period, special guests will host an evening of music and DJs in collaboration with NTS Radio. Plus daily musical performances from Chinese artist Zhang Ding who transforms the ICA Theatre into a ‘mutating sound sculpture’ with mirrored surfaces and suspended sound panels.

This first UK survey of artist Emily Jacir focuses on her dialogue with Europe, Italy and the Mediterranean in particular. Known for her poignant works of art that are as poetic as they are political and biographical, Jacir explores histories of migration, resistance and exchange

The 13th edition of the contemporary art fair returns to Regent’s Park from 14-17 October, with over 160 leading galleries exhibiting at the event. Here’s what not to miss…

The Galleries

Established names such as Cheim & Read, Galerie Kamel Mennour and Hauser & Wirth (who’ll be focusing their attentions on sculpture), will inhabit the same space as newcomers like the Sunday Painter Gallery, part of the burgeoning Vauxhall art scene. At the latter, the upcoming British artist Samara Scott exhibits her intriguing ‘water relief’ installation, Lonely Planet; she is one of seven artists exhibiting for the first time in the Frieze Focus space, so head here for the fresh talent. Elsewhere look out for the Paris-based artist Camille Henrot, another one to watch, whose installation Grosse Fatigue (2013) was awarded the Silver Lion at the 2013 Venice Biennale, and Jeff Wall’s Woman and Her Doctor (1980-81) photograph, largely for the eye-watering €1.4 million price tag.

The Performance Art

This year, Frieze has ramped up the focus on performance and participatory art in their curated section Frieze Live. Keep your eyes peeled for the processional performance Xifopagas Capilares (1984), translating as ‘Capillary Siamese Twins’, by the Brazillian artist TUNGA: two twin girls, umbilically connected by long braided hair will be walking around the fair. At the Misako & Rosen stand, the Tokyo-based artist Ken Kagami will be inviting visitors to a live portrait session (with a humorous twist).

The Sculpture Park

The Sculpture Park returns to the English Gardens, this year curated by Clare Lilley of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. There will be artwork by Richard Serra of Peter Freeman in New York and Carol Bove of David Zwirner in London, as well as a 11–14th century AD pre-Ekoi monolith from Western Africa, courtesy of the Didier Claes gallery in Brussels. Entry is free so you can visit the beautifully adorned gardens as many times as you wish.

The Projects

This year the seven new commissions for Frieze Projects are by AYRBRB, Lutz Bacher, castillo/corrales, Thea Djodjadz, Jeremy Herbert, Asad Rasa and Rachel Rose. On entering the fair you’ll be greeted by the work of the American conceptual artist Lutz Bacher. The enigmatic artist (he’s renowned for never making a public appearance) has transformed the entrance hall using found objects from film sets. The space underneath the fair will be occupied by Jeremy Herbert, best known for his experimental theatre sets; he has built a sensory space inspired by the Valley of the Kings and the experience of entering a tomb. Those interested in the increasing impact of technology should visit the stand of AYRBRB. The London art collective are exploring the concept of the ‘smart home’ and raising questions about privacy and control. Taking kids? They’ll love this year’s Frieze Artist Award winner, Rachel Rose. Rose has created a scale-model of the fair structure, including sonic and visual depictions of the animals that live in Regent’s Park.

The Talks

This year’s Frieze Talks programme features speakers Tania Bruguera, Prem Sahib, Adrian Searle, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Anicka Yi, among others. On Wednesday, the artist and author Douglas Coupland will talk with Emily Segal of trend-forecasting group K-HOLE about how we generate personal and interpersonal energy, alone and together, and on Saturday, the keynote lecture will be held by Vivienne Westwood. The designer will be speaking about the changing relationship between art and her practice, the influence of children’s art on her work and her commitment to environmental and social activism. For those unable to visit the fair, an archive of Frieze Talks, including speakers such as John Baldessari, Boris Groys and Yoko Ono is available online at friezeprojects.org/talks and on iTunes.